The company, whose brands include the red and orange
aperitifs Camparisoda and Crodino, faced competition from newly
popular beverages such as handcrafted beers. It reported a
slight fall in its sales in Italy, despite a long hot summer
that would usually lift demand.

Chief Executive Bob Kunze-Concewitz told analysts in a
conference call that a lack of new products and marketing
initiatives had weighed on its sales at home, a market in
decline and which Campari depends upon for a quarter of its
revenue.

"Italy recorded slightly negative sales because single-serve
aperitifs did not go well," he said.

Shares in the Milan-based group, which reached an
all-time-high of 8.18 euros just before the results, were up 0.6
percent at 8 euros by 1543 GMT.

The maker of the red aperitif said on Wednesday that total
turnover rose 7.9 percent to 1.14 billion euros ($1.23 billion)
in the first nine months, with a large part of the increase due
to positive currency effects.